Lessons Learned.

Last Monday I was hit by a car on my bike.

I'll spare you the details of how it all went down, but most importantly (and surprisingly), I'm okay. No broken bones, concussions or major injuries. As you can tell, my poor bike took most of impact and thank goodness I was wearing a helmet!

Since this doesn't happen everyday, I have a few take-aways that I thought compelled to share (other than wear your helmet people!) --

- There's nothing like bouncing off a car to remind you how crucial it is to never get too comfortable in your morning routine. When I first starting riding my bike around town, I was super paranoid. All of my senses were on high alert and I made sure to abide by all traffic rules. As I got more comfortable, I gained confidence and riding my bike soon became easier than driving. No matter how many times you may take the same commute, all it takes is one instant for something to go wrong.

- Adrenaline is real and it's confusing. I distinctly remember thinking to myself "Oooooooh wow, I just got hit by a car" as I was flying through the air. After I landed and the cars were stopped, I had a split second to look around and assess what had happened. I saw my poor bike, 2 parking lot attendants looking at me and a nice old lady coming up to give me a hug. I immediately stood up and was shocked to realize that I felt fine. I felt like an idiot when I exclaimed "I didn't even rip my jeans!" Your body has an amazing way of numbing the areas where it needs the most attention and it was fun interesting to discover those areas as the day went on. Pay attention to your body and even though you may feel like an invincible super hero, you're not!

- If you're gonna get hit by a car, get hit by a masseuse. I could not have got hit by a nicer dude. Immediately after the accident, he was sensitive to my traumatic experience. He could have yelled at me or blamed me for damaging his car. He could have driven off. Instead, he told me who he was and explained that even though I felt okay at the time, I should probably call him to get any potential injuries or misalignment assessed. That evening, he spent 2 hours making sure that the muscles in my neck were feeling loose, he iced my bruises and followed up on how I was feeling the next day.

All in all, I'm thankful that I don't have thousands of dollars and months of physical therapy ahead of me! Bike is in repairs and I'll be back on the roads in no time. Ride your bike and stay safe!